Masks
by KawaiiCupcake98
Summary: Masks aren't always the kind that you wear to a masquerade ball, sometimes they're ones we wear everyday to hide the truth... Swan Queen Fluff XD


**Love takes off masks we fear we cannot live without but know that we cannot live within **

**James Baldwin**

Emma didn't find her shower quite as cathartic as she had hoped. She just couldn't get that damned women out of her head. The apple shower gel definitely wasn't helping though. She wanted to wash her away; she wanted every memory of her to be swallowed up by the plughole and swirl of into oblivion. Yet every time she closed her eyes she felt her warm touch on her body, slow and unsure at first but then desperate and furious. The hands kept searching, wanting to feel every inch of Emma's toned body, her stomach muscles rippling under the soft touch of long slender fingers…. 'Argh!' Emma shouted at herself in anger, bringing her hazy mind back to reality. How could a dream affect her so much? The woman had never even touched her yet the mere thought of the raven haired beauty sent her heart fluttering. Emma gave herself a final blast of freezing water to try and drag her mind back to the world of the conscious, yet she couldn't help but think of another certain someone in the shower as she stepped out of her own, wrapped herself in a towel and started to get ready for work.

'Buzzzzzz Buzzzzz Buzzzzzz' 'Ugh..What?' I murmur to myself stifling a yawn. As I lifted my head off the desk I look towards the clock. Ah Crap! I was meant to be at the Mayor's office 10 minutes ago! Not only does that woman have to plague my dreams she has to be there when I wake up too. I finally remember to answer the phone to an exasperated 'Sheriff Swan'.

'I'm on my way Mayor Mills, I'm sorry I'm gonna be late but there was an emergency at the station' I lie as I rush out of the station . 'Oh, was there?' Regina practically purrs. 'Yeah, there was a prob…' I stop mid-sentence as my yellow bug comes into view around the corner. There she is, leaning casually against the side of my car, as though she doesn't realise how many times she has been in my dreams of late. I hear the sound of a dead phone in my ear as the Mayor hangs up and starts to walk towards me, her hips swaying from side to side like a pendulum. Her heels are dangerously high and her shirt buttoned dangerously low. She prowls like a jungle cat; as though she knows that she could have whatever she sees with a mere flick of her wrist. The smirk plastered on her face makes me look down towards my feet only for my gaze to be inexplicably halted by the sight of her chest. Oh what I'd give to… My thoughts are interrupted yet again by the woman, as she drawls 'See something you like, Miss Swan?' She has that stupid, signature smirk plastered over her oh-so-kissable lips again. I stutter and start to blush uncontrollably whilst she lets out a light laugh, it sounds as smooth and rich as silk. 'Er…um…I'm sorry I'm late I …er…' 'You **what**? Miss Swan' I am suddenly able to form a coherent sentence and manage 'Its **Sheriff **Swan, Madam Mayor and I am late because I fell asleep but **why **I am late does not matter, now where would you like to have this meeting' I see a sudden glint in her eyes, she seems to be enjoying the fact that I'm challenging her. 'Well, **Sheriff** Swan, how about my office?'

We walk in silence down the street to the Mayor's office, she seems calm and composed the entire walk yet I am surprised that she can't hear my heart racing. No one has ever had this effect on me before-yet alone a woman I'm supposed to hate! She's never even touched me and I can guarantee she's never thought about me in that way so why have these dreams started now? And how am I going to sit through a town finance meeting alone with her when I can't walk down a street with her beside me? The clip clop of her heels echoes through my mind as she asks 'Have you not been sleeping well?'

'What?' I reply as the question brings me out of my reverie. 'You said you fell asleep? Have you not been sleeping well?' The unusually caring tone of the question surprises me as I answer 'Oh…Er no, it's just that my dreams have been quite distracting.' The poison is back in her voice as she replies 'Well don't be falling asleep on the job again; this town needs a sheriff who can be bothered to stay awake'.

When we arrive at the Mayor's office she takes a set of large, antique looking keys out of her handbag and proceeds to insert one into the door. 'Why's it locked?' I ask, she looks at me as though the question is ludicrous as she replies 'Because there's very private town information in my office Sheriff Swan, do you not lock the station?' She asks with a thick coating of sarcasm.

'Of course I do but I mean why is it locked if your assistant's in there?'

'Because she isn't Miss Swan'

'Oh, why? Where is she?'

'I let her have the day off today'

'Why?' I ask sceptically.

'Well, it is a Saturday after all' she looks at me with a sneer on her face. Oh, the Evil Queen does have a heart after all, I think 'and that's the only reason Madame Mayor?'

'What are you implying Sheriff Swan? I simply wanted to have some privacy for our meeting, is that a problem with you?' _Privacy_ I think, I can't fight the slight flutter of butterflies in my stomach when she says she wants _privacy _with_ m_e. 'No that's not a problem, after all we are discussing _private town information_' I say copying the statement that she made herself earlier. We walk through the large, ornate foyer, past Regina's assistant's desk and into her office. As she walks behind the desk I wonder if Regina was ever on the other side of the desk or if it was always her commanding everyone else, sending a chill down the spines of those who sat opposite her with just a glare, somehow I just can't imagine Regina ever being under anyone else's control.

I turn towards the desk and am about to walk in that direction when instead she picks up her papers of off her desk and begins to walk towards the large sofa that is in her office. She then proceeds to place the papers on the coffee table, sit down and turn to me looking as graceful as ever. 'Are you going to join me so that we can have this meeting or are you just going to stand there?' I change my direction and try to look a little less flustered as I walk over to the sofa and sit down next to her. If I could have sat at the opposite end of the sofa from her I would have, but no, she chose to sit right in the middle. It would have been so much easier to sit at the desk; why did she choose the sofa? At the desk my mind would have been at least _slightly_ less likely to wonder to my recent dreams. I could have at least _tried _to stay concentrated on the words coming out of her mouth rather than just her mouth, her delicious mouth. I'm losing myself again, I'm falling into that enchanting state of daydreaming again and I just can't help it, not that I would want to even if I could. I remember last night's dream; Soft lips on mine, graceful fingers ghosting over my body sending shivers down my spine, my stomach muscles rippling under her touch, oh and her voice, that voice calling my name into obscurity as we both fall off the edge into oblivion 'Miss Swan, Miss Swan! Are you quite alright?' says that same voice, only this time it has an edge to it. I start blushing uncontrollably for the second time since I have been in her company today. Oh God Emma, really? Why do you let yourself get into these messes, why couldn't you just have control over where your mind wonders like every other sane human being on this planet! I remember suddenly that she had asked me a question 'Sorry, what was it you were saying Madame Mayor?'

'I said are you quite alright? You looked a little dazed'

'I'm sorry, it was my dreams again, I can't stop thinking about them' Or you, I think to myself. 'Maybe you should talk to Dr Hopper about them, though when I had trouble sleeping my father always said that the best thing to do was to do whatever it was you were dreaming about' oh yes, wouldn't that be a brilliant idea I think, full of sarcasm. 'That would be slightly difficult Madame Mayor, but I'm sure it will pass soon anyway' Well I sure hope it does or I'm not going to be able to stay awake at work. 'Oh, why?' she asks full of innocence. _You_ I want to scream at her, _you're_ the one haunting my dreams waking me up in the middle of the night. _You're_ the one who I can't stop thinking about. It's _you_ leading me down the hypnotizing path to my dreams in the middle of a conversation. But instead, I answer 'It doesn't matter' as I pick up the first set of papers on the pile in front of me. I can feel her eyes on the back of my head as I do so and I know she wants to question me again but I act as though I don't notice. Why should she care anyway, it's none of her business. As I turn back to her, her mask of indifference is back again but I can still see a slightly questioning look in her eyes. She grabs another set of papers and we sit in silence reading through the town's accounts.

An hour and twenty minutes passes before either one of us speaks again. She puts down the final stack of papers as she says 'I didn't find any inaccuracies but I think we should cut the budget for the litter patrol, there is far too much money being wasted on it' I put down my last stack then and reply 'I agree, the money could definitely be put to better use' I look up and into her eyes and I can once again feel myself getting lost, her eyes are so beautiful, a rich chocolate colour... But I remember myself and shake my head before I have fallen too deep into my dreams. I was barely concentrating the entire time I was reading, my mind kept drifting and I kept repeating the morning's events in my head, trying to decipher her actions, she was being unusually kind to me and whenever I closed my eyes I saw my dreams, it was as though the images were burned into my retinas. 'Well I believe that that is the end of our meeting then.'

'Uh…yeah' I reply packing my things back into my bag and getting ready to leave. 'Actually, there was one more thing Regina, Henry wanted me to ask if you would mind if I took him on a camping trip next weekend' hang on a moment, when did I start calling her Regina? Well she doesn't seem to have noticed any way. 'Miss Swan, do you recall the moment about 10 years ago in which you gave up your son for adoption? Yes, good, well as you may have noticed, this means that as he was adopted by me, he is **my** son and you have no right to take him anywhere.'

'Yes, I know but…' I could feel the anger start to well up inside of me as she cut me short, 'No buts Miss Swan, he is **my** son and you would do good to remember that.' She seems to be a little tender on the subject so I try to keep my voice quiet and steady but she can sense the frustration seeping into my voice 'But that's why I'm asking! I know he's your son, but he wanted me to ask'

'You are **not** taking my son away from me Miss Swan, understood?' I can't stop the anger coursing through my veins as the damn bursts and a flood of anger is released. I feel as though the anger has been welling up inside me for the last few weeks 'He is **my** son too, and he **wants** me in his life whether you do or not! And frankly I don't care what you want, all I want is the best for Henry and clearly you aren't that! You think you know what's best for him but you have no idea what he wants, no wonder he ran away, I mean he thinks you're the Evil Queen for Christ's Sake!' I regret the words the second they leave my lips. I know I've crossed a line and I can see the cracks begin to appear in her impenetrable mask of emotions. I look into her eyes and see unshed tears threatening to fall, she looks fearful and hollow but as quickly as it came it passes and if I hadn't felt for her so much in that moment I would have sworn I never saw that look in her eyes. I blink and when I look up at her again I see unadulterated fury in her eyes and I'm tempted to believe Henry when he says that she's the evil queen. I see a slight tremor of anger run through her body as she looks up at me and before I know what has happened she's in front of me, her face right up against mine and she speaks in a slow threatening whisper. 'Get out of my office Miss Swan' she takes a breath before continuing '**now**…'. In a moment of what can only be described as complete and utter madness I lean forward and press my lips to hers. She is stunned into silence but as I pull away a look of pure anger graces her features, she seems angrier than before which I honestly didn't think was possible. 'What on earth do you think you're doing Miss Swan?!' Oh Christ, what in God's name desired me to that?! I gaze into her chocolate eyes for a long moment and I remember why I did it. I try to decipher what's there in the depths of her soul and see cracks start to appear again and then I see it, hiding at the back behind all of her other emotions; lust. She wanted me to kiss her, or maybe it's just wishful thinking…I turn and walk into the foyer without another word. The next thing I know I'm pushing the door open and running through the streets of Storybrooke with my hair flowing behind me in golden waves and the sound of her voice calling my name as I left echoing through my mind.

A dull ache is starting to form in my legs but my head won't let them stop running. I run and I run and I run until I can run no longer and as I look up I realise I'm in front of the Mayors mansion. Of all the places I could have ended up why did my legs carry me here? Even as I think it I know the answer, it's because this is where my heart wants to be. I walk around to the back of the house and see the apple tree with its branch missing. At least I've left my mark on her garden if not her heart. I walk slowly towards the tree and run my hand along the branch right to the tip where I pick a ruby red apple from its hanging place and bring it to my lips, it tastes delicious, as though there are fireworks going off on my tongue, it's crisp, sweet and tangy without tasting sour. My legs still ache from the running and I sit down below the tree in the shade it provides. I lean my head back against the tree and think about what I've done. In a matter of hours I have ruined any chance I ever had of the Mayor taking me seriously and made a fool of myself in front of her too. I close my eyes for a moment as I realise how tired am and I drift off into an unusually peaceful slumber in the warm, late afternoon air with the scent of apples surrounding me and the sound of birds chirping in nearby trees.

I feel a soft, warm hand brushing a stray hair from my face to behind my ear and decide to keep my eyes closed and see what happens. 'Oh, Emma' I hear Regina sigh quietly. I feel warm breath on my forehead as she kisses me tenderly so as not to wake me I guess. 'I must be dreaming still' I think as she pulls away. I open my eyes and see she has hers closed, I take a slow steadying breath and bring my hand to her face. She leans into my hand and nuzzles it softly before realising what she's doing and opening her eyes in surprise. I see chocolate eyes gazing back at me through long lashes and ask 'Am I dreaming Regina?' quietly. She stands up quickly and steps away from me as she comprehends what just happened with wide eyes. I stand up and finally realise that I'm not really dreaming. We both stare at each other in silence for what feels like hours but must only have been seconds before I start to say 'I'm…' as she too begins to speak. She builds up her walls again for the third time that day but I know they must be crumbling into ruins by now as she says 'I think you'll find that your trespassing Miss Swan'. 'I…I didn't mean to come here…' She looks angry but now that I've seen her mask slip I know what's hiding beneath. 'I would greatly appreciate it if you would vacate my premises Miss Swan' I have a feeling of Déjà vu as I take a step forward and lean into kiss her again, she tries to push me away but I won't let her this time and I wrap my arms around her pulling her closer. I feel her go limp in my arms as she finally stops fighting me and herself and as I pull away from her I gaze into her eyes and see a potent mix or fear, lust and passion. 'I'm sorry Emma' she whispers as a single tear slides down her flawless cheek. I bring my hand up to her face and wipe the tear away. Then she pulls me closer and kisses me whilst tangling her hands in my long blonde locks. My hands travel downwards from her cheek to her hips where they rest but they ache to touch her skin. She moans into my lips and I can feel the tension leak out of her. Our lips part whilst are foreheads rest against each other's and she whispers 'Oh, Emma, you found me… beneath all this' She gestures at herself 'you found me… your like my knight in shining red leather armour' I laugh and reply solemnly 'I will always find you my Queen'


End file.
